The Soul Walker
by Guru of Gaming
Summary: Once in every few generations, a human is gifted with an incredible power – the power to connect their very soul with their Pokemon. With the discovery and public knowledge of Mega Evolution, this ability has evolved too… Rated M for strong language and mature themes.
1. Chapter 1 - SSDD

_The Kalos region, a beautiful serene continent surrounded on all sides by Pokémon of all kinds, from the tiniest Sewaddle to the mightiest Noivern. The countrysides were tranquil and bustling with all manner of Grass-types; while the cacophonic and chaotic cities refused to sleep. Everywhere you turned, you saw a wild Pokémon; the majority of trainers wished to train and raise them, and a small minority instead wished to live in harmony with them, in peace with them._

 _And then there were the criminals._

 _Groups of people obsessed with the power of Pokémon above all else, capturing them and forcing them to do their evil misguided bidding. Some of these criminals wished to harness the power of the strongest and most ancient Pokémon alive, while others wished to sell them to the highest bidder._

 _Our story begins with one of these groups, locked in combat in the dead of night with their law-abiding rivals…_

"Gimme back my Pikachu!" yelled the dark-haired trainer towards the escaping thieves.

"Pika Pi!" the trainer's Pokémon yelled back in desperation, locked inside an electric-proof capsule.

"You won't get away with this!" his blonde friend shouted, struggling to keep up with his pace due to her shorter legs.

"Y'now Jess," the indigo haired thief said to his co-worker, "sometimes I feel bad for stealing the twerp's Pikachu."

"I know what you mean, James," his magenta haired companion replied, a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Maybe we should just let Pikachu go and call it a day…"

"Nah!" their diminuative feline cohort replied. "We've gone through so much trouble to catch it already, we might as well hand it over to the Boss."

"Well, can't argue with that, Meowth", Jessie laughed, knowing full well Ash could hear them as he chased after them. "Shall we get going, James?"

"Yes. Lets." James pushed a button on their van, causing the top of the van to pop off and start inflating their hot air balloon. As the balloon filled with air, the van begun to separate.

"Sayonara twerps!" Meowth chuckled as he clambered into the balloon's basket from the van's cab. As the balloon fully detached, the now driverless van started swerving wildly, before spinning out of control towards the two.

"Bonnie!" Ash quickly swerved to tackle her out of the way of the van, the pair rolling into the grass by the side of the road.

"Ash! Bonnie!" Serena yelled as she caught up with the pair while seeing the van come to a rather violent standstill next to a couple boulders further down the road. "Are you two ok?"

"Yeah, I think so," Bonnie replied, nursing a small scrape on her knee. As she made to get up however, her ankle gave out, and she fell to the ground in pain.

"Bonnie!" her brother Clemont panted as he finally caught up with them. "What happened?"

"I think she's hurt her ankle, Clemont!" Serena told him, as he caught his breath. "We need to get her to a medic, fast!"

As Clemont checked his Pokenav for the nearest Pokémon Centre, Ash was looking towards the sky for the balloon. "Fletchinder, I choose you!" he called out, and in a flash his avian Pokémon was in the air. "Fletchinder, go get Team Rocket!"

"Chinder!" the bird confirmed the command and set off like a proverbial rocket, using its Flame Charge attack to catch up relatively quickly.

"Aww great, it's the twerp's Pokémon," Meowth said to his teammates. "What do we do?"

"Simple. Pumpkaboo, let's show this pathetic bird how we deal with pests." Jessie brought out her Ghost-type Pokémon, who perched itself on the edge of the basket. "Shadow Ball!"

"Okay, Inkay!" James joined in, "Use Psybeam!"

The squid like Pokémon blasted multicolored light at Fletchinder, while the floating Jack-o-lantern launched a ball of ghostly energy, but Fletchinder's speed was too fast for the attacks to hit. It countered with a Flamethrower, which was itself countered by another Shadow Ball.

"Inkay, blind it!" James commanded. Inkay squirted a stream of ink at Fletchinder, catching it by surprise and covering its face in ink. Now blinded, it desperately struggled in midair trying to wipe its eyes while maintaining flight. "Now use Psybeam!"

"Dark Pulse, Pumpkaboo!" The two attacks hit the now defenceless bird dead centre, knocking it clean out and out of the sky.

Ash saw his Pokémon falling and quickly recalled it to its Poke Ball. He was about to call out another Pokémon when a bellowing roar caught his attention.

"What was that?" Meowth asked as the rain started up, ice cold droplets hitting the surface of the balloon.

"Maybe it's just the storm?" Jessie said nervously. A Fletchinder was one thing, but an angry flying Pokémon was another. "Whatever, let's get out of here before it catches us."

"Too late," James replied, pointing at the dark sky behind the balloon. Out of the clouds descended a black-skinned Pokemon, with a rider and a red hot tail. A flash of thunder illuminated the sky for a split second, to Team Rocket's collective horror. A powerful looking Black Charizard was fast approaching them, and while it was a rare Pokemon indeed, they unanimously decided to quit while they were ahead, and hit the turbos on their engines.

Ash too had seen the Pokémon in the sky. "Who's that Pokémon?" he asked himself, unable to quite make it out, but partially glad it was challenging Team Rocket.

"Did Team Rocket get away?" Serena asked, as Clemont and Bonnie, who was riding Clemont's Luxray, caught up to them.

"Not quite," Ash replied, pointing to the dark object in the blackness.

"I don't see any…" Bonnie started, but a flash of thunder made her jump, while also illuminating the Charizard. "What is that?" she said hesitantly.

"I think it might be a Charizard," Clemont replied, squinting to get a closer look. "Although, I've never seen one that looks like that before. "What's it doing up there?"

"Hopefully, saving Pikachu." Serena put her hand on Ash's shoulder, hoping he was right.

Back in the clouds, the trainer flew towards the balloon at a breakneck pace. Within seconds, it had caught up to the balloon. "C'mon, Meowth, he's gaining on us! Can't you make this go any faster?" Jessie demanded, a note of panic in her voice.

"We go any faster than this and we will tear the balloon apart!" James conceded, watching the gauges on the engines redline dangerously.

"Yeah, no kidding," Meowth replied.

The trainer flew in close, "Release that Pikachu, thieves!"

"Not happening!" Meowth replied, pushing the engines to their limits.

"Inkay, show this fool how we handle meddlers! Foul Play!" Inkay used dark energy to turn Charizard's own strength against it, forcing it away from the balloon.

"Have it your way. Dragon Claw on the capsule!" the man commanded, and the Charizard rolled into a dive, swooping down and smashing the capsule with a single blow; then diving again to catch the now freefalling Pikachu.

"You're not getting away that easily," Jessie yelled, but her rant was cut short by a small explosion from one of the engines. Thinking quickly, she detached the rockets from the balloon, causing their balloon to slow to a crawl while the malfunctioning engines kept pace with the Charizard.

"Oh crap, Charizard, roll out of the way!" As Charizard rolled, the rocket detonated, sending shards of metal in every direction. As Charizard quickly righted itself, it let out an enormous bellow.

"Er, guys" Meowth translated. "Charizard's a little pissed at us." The balloon was now heading right for them, and they were not going to dodge this attack.

"Charizard, Blast Burn!" The ebony dragon launched a stream of white hot fire at the balloon, punching a hole clean through and detonating the heater. As the thieves bid their usual adieus to the mystery trainer, he chuckled to himself. "When will they ever stop?" he muttered. "How you doing, Charizard?" he asked his partner.

"Rawr!" the beast replied, indicating no injuries were sustained from the explosion. Pikachu on the other hand wasn't so lucky.

"Pika…" it squeaked weakly, a gash across the left-hand side of its chest.

"Oh no!" he said to his partner. "We need to get him to a Pokémon Centre, pronto. Hold on little guy, we're going to get you to safety." AS he touched Pikachu's forehead, he received a rush of memories, of Pikachu's trainer, and of a friend and its trainer.

" _Head to the Pokémon Centre, in Alisode Town. I'll meet you there."_

Bonnie quickly looked around for the mystery voice, but couldn't see anyone. "Did you guys say anything?" she asked. The three said no, but her Dedenne nodded affirmatively, she did hear something.

"Ok, the nearest Pokémon Centre is in the village just down the road, we should head there. Hopefully, the person with Pikachu has headed there too." Clemont said as he showed the others the map.

"What about Alisode Town?" Bonnie asked. The three looked at her, then back to the map.

"Er, Alisode Town is a lot further on. Almost a day's walk." Clemont replied, his face puzzled. Why would you want to go there?

"We need to get your ankle treated straight away, before it gets any worse," Serena reassured her.

"No, we need to go the Pokémon Centre in Alisode Town. It's where Pikachu is," Bonnie replied abruptly.

"And how would you know where Pikachu is?!" Ash shouted.

"BECAUSE HE TOLD ME SO!" Bonnie screamed, pointing at the sky. The others stood in stunned silence, as Dedenne squeaked in confirmation. Realising her error, she quickly lowered her head, shocked at her own outburst. "He spoke to me, in my head big brother. Like he was next to me, but not really," she said quietly. Clemont quickly pondered over this, before realising one of the possibilities.

"Telepathy?" he questioned.

"Possibly," Ash replied. "There are a few people who can talk to others using telepathy, and a few Pokémon too. But to do it from so far away, to someone who you have never met?"

"Whoever he is, he must be a powerful psychic," Serena added. "My question is, why Alisode Town?"

"Because Alisode Town has some of the best emergency medical tech in all of Kalos!" Clemont realised. "That must mean this guy is hurt, or one of his Pokémon is hurt." As he spoke, both he and Ash realised the implications. "Or Pikachu is…"

The group quickly set off for the village, hoping to get some transport into the town.

* * *

Alisode Town, 11:40pm

The trainer landed just outside the Pokémon Centre, causing quite a stir to the few Pidove that took residence on the roof. The storm had eased off now, and the sky was crystal clear. Patting his partner's neck for a job well done, the pair entered the Pokémon Centre quickly, to the shock of the intern at the front desk.

"I'm sorry, Nurse Joy is taking a break at the moment. You are welcome to wait for her," the intern quietly said as she looked the ebon dragon up and down, before facing its trainer.

"I don't think this guy can wait that long." He uncurled his bloodied jacket, to reveal Pikachu, his fur matted with blood and his breathing shallow. The intern quickly paged Joy a code red, and within a minute three medics had bundled the mouse Pokémon onto a stretcher.

"My apologies, sir," Joy said as Pikachu was wheeled off to the ER. "We will do whatever we can to heal your Pikachu."

"Yeah, that isn't actually my Pikachu…" he admitted, a suspicious look coming across her face. "A group of thieves took him from his trainer, I took him back. He was injured when a machine exploded. Charizard and I dodged most of the shrapnel, but Pikachu wasn't so lucky it seems."

"I see." Nurse Joy had heard about a spate of stolen Pokémon circulating around Kalos. His story seemed legitimate, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Where is his trainer then?"

"He is on the way, his group were on foot so they couldn't make it here as fast as I did." He saw in Bonnie's memories the van swerve towards the pair. "I think the youngest in their group sustained an injury of some sort."

Now she really was suspicious. Here was a guy claiming to be a saviour of a Pokémon, yet couldn't return it to its trainer or help a trainer in need.

"I understand your mistrust, Nurse Joy;" he cut her train of thought off. "Allow me to prove my story."

"And how, pray tell, do you expect to do that?"

"I'm psychic."

It took every ounce of professionalism to hold in her laughter, but nevertheless a small smirk escaped her lips.

"Humour me, ma'am." As she agreed he held out his hand. She placed hers tentatively on his open palm, and the memories of the night's events played out in her head, from both his perspective and from Bonnie's.

Now finally believing, she apologised profusely to him, while he modestly replied that she didn't need to apologise. "I will need an overnight room while I wait," he told her.

She took Charizard into the back for a well-deserved rest and handed him a room key. "I'm going to need a name to put under the key log. Unless you want to be called Mr. Psychic," she teased.

He chuckled, something he rarely did nowadays. "Yeah, Mr. Psychic is too formal for me. The name's Ryan. Ryan Rowan."


	2. Chapter 2 - Training Daze

Ryan Rowan was the nephew of esteemed Sinnoh Pokémon Professor, Edgar Rowan. While his uncle excelled in the field of Pokémon growth and their relationship with humans, he was talented in other areas. At a young age he had discovered his psychic abilities, when he was 9 he encountered an injured Charmander being attacked by a group of Bidoof. Bringing the injured Charmander to his uncle's lab the pair quickly formed a strong bond; one Rowen Sr was very interested in studying. Tasking his nephew in raising the Charmander to be as strong as it could be, while also being a good friend to it at the same time was a challenge Ryan could not pass up. Neither he nor his uncle knew just how strong his connection with Pokémon could potentially be.

Ryan stirred from these memories early in the morning. Knowing he would not be able to get back to sleep, he opted instead to get some breakfast. Heading down to the kitchen, he noticed the stocks of fresh produce were running low.

"If you were looking for something to eat, we don't have a lot at the moment," the intern from the night before yawned. "Sorry about last night."

"No apologies necessary," he replied. "What is Pikachu's condition?"

"Nurse Joy said he was 'critical, but stable'." She poured herself a coffee, then noticed the lack of coffee beans in the percolator. "Aww shit, we're out of coffee again." The instant she said it she instantly covered her mouth in shock, while Ryan merely chuckled to himself. "You didn't hear that…"

"Hear what?" he replied with a knowing smirk. She smiled back and put the coffeeless mug into the sink. "I think I saw a market just around the corner, I'll see what they have."

"Could you see if they have any coffee?" she said sheepishly.

"Guess we all need our own pick-me-ups to get us through the day, or night in your case." She laughed at the joke; ' _her smile is pretty cute'_ , he thought. "I'll see if they do."

About 40 minutes later, the half-asleep intern was woken up by the most peculiar sight. Ryan had walked into the kitchen with about six bags of groceries floating in midair. "I thought that psychic thing Nurse Joy was talking about was just a joke," she muttered.

"Oh I can do a lot more than just levitate things…" he motioned to one bag in particular that was emptying itself out onto the counter; "I can also provide tired little ladies with their morning beverage."

To anyone else, a jar of coffee was simply that, but to her it might as well been the Jewel of Life itself. She grabbed it and cradled it in both arms as if it were a baby, before popping the lid and putting a heaping helping into the percolator.

"So, Mr. Psychic, what else do you have?" she teased as the smell of coffee started to permeate the room.

"I figured I would treat the trainers and staff to a very special breakfast," he replied. As her smile widened, she looked at the assortment of meats and other breakfast items he had somehow procured at 6:30 in the morning.

"How did you get all this?" she asked.

"I kinda did one of the butchers a favour, so he gives me great cuts of meat for free whenever I'm in town, while the grocer owes me from that time I stopped those thieves who broke in once." He was proud of his achievements and his heroism, but didn't like taking advantage of it. The pair of them however insisted on the free breakfast shopping.

"Wow, you sound like one of those hero guys on the Holo Caster" she said in awe. "Do, erm.. Do you have any plans for after breakfast?" she asked nervously.

Sensing the crush coming from a mile away, he decided to let her down gently. "Sorry, but once the trainer the Pikachu belongs to gets here, I'm heading off." Noting her dejected look, a plan formed in his mind. "Having said that, it may take him a while to get here, so I might do some training with my Pokémon." Her face immediately perked up upon hearing that.

"Could… Could I watch you?"

"I don't see why not, might even invite the rest of the trainers too." Hearing this, her smile grew once again.

"Thanks, erm.. Mr. Psychic," she giggled.

"Ryan, Ms…"

"Judy. Nice to meet you Ryan."

* * *

 **7:15am – En-route to Alisode Town**

Ash and his friends had made it to the nearby town earlier that morning and spoke to the night shift doctor at the Pokémon Centre about getting Bonnie's leg treated. A passing delivery driver offered to give the four a lift to Alisode Town after hearing their tale. With the drive being around three hours or so, the others sans Ash opted to sleep through the journey.

"Can't sleep, mate?" the driver, Mike asked his young co-pilot.

"No," Ash replied. "Not until I know Pikachu is safe."

"I know the feeling;" Mike said, a sadness evident across his face. "When my little lad got sick, I stayed by his side for five days without sleep, praying he was alright. When he finally recovered, I was so happy I hugged him until I fell asleep by his bedside."

"Yeah, me and Pikachu have been through a lot together. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see him again."

As the truck drove round a cliffside, a sudden roar emanated from one of the caves, startling the trucks inhabitants awake.

"What was that?!" Serena exclaimed as Clemont peered through the flaps surrounding the back of the truck. Another roar made him jump back as the flaps were torn off by the head of an angry Salamence.

"It's a Salamence!" Clemont yelled to the front of the truck, and the driver floored it, trying to gain ground on the dragon.

"Must've woken the damn thing up from one of the caves we passed." He checked his rear view mirror and saw the dragon falling back. "Aww shit, brace yourselves kids!"

Salamence unleashed a torrent of green flames towards the truck, with it barely managing to evade it. As Bonnie and Dedenne woke up, she saw the angry Salamence close up.

' _Help!'_ she cried out, praying someone was listening.

Over in Alisode Pokémon Centre, Ryan was busy cooking breakfast alongside Judy when he heard the cry.

"Ryan, what's wrong?" she asked.

Holding his left temple as the psychic link reactivated, he turned to his new friend. "Remember the little girl I mentioned might be hurt last night? She's in trouble." Judy's eyes went wide with shock as he pulled out a Poke Ball from his belt.

"How can you help them from here?" she wondered.

"Showing memories is but one of my talents, but for this, I'm going to need help. Lucario, I need you!" The jackal Pokémon emerged from the light, her fur shimmering in the morning sun.

As the wild Salamence readied another DragonBreath, Dedenne was prepared for it. As the attack was unleashed, Dedenne launched itself into the path of the attack, fully blocking it before landing back into the truck.

"Since Dedenne's part Fairy-type, Dragon attacks won't do a thing to it!" Clemont announced, lightening the mood somewhat. Unfortunately it appeared Salamence had realised it as well.

As Dedenne launched itself into the air again in anticipation of another DragonBreath, Salamence instead used a powerful Flamethrower, which threw Dedenne into the truck and singed the tarp surrounding the kids.

"Dedenne, no!" Bonnie cried out, struggling to stand upright on her bad leg. "You leave Dedenne and the rest of us alone or you'll be sorry!" she scolded the Salamence.

"Bonnie, no; get away from the edge" Clemont ordered, but Bonnie kept standing in defiance of the dragon facing her.

* _roarrr!_ * Salamence cried out, before unleashing a massive Flamethrower on the defiant preteen. With the flames heading towards them, Bonnie's eyes glowed a faint indigo…

" _Psycho Shield!"_ Ryan declared, both his eyes and Lucario the same indigo colour as Bonnie's. Bonnie raised her hand, and a bright blue shield surrounded the back of the truck, protecting it and blocking Salamence's Flamethrower. Sensing he wasn't on fire yet, Clemont looked at his younger sister, seeing with his own eyes the most amazing sight. He couldn't quite make it out, but there appeared to be three of Bonnie, except one was a Pokémon.

Salamence was not amused at this turn of events. First it gets woken up abruptly by a loud and smelly truck, then gets mocked by a gerbil, and now a little girl; not today. It bellowed and unleashed a Hyper Beam upon its diminutive foe. The black energy surged towards Bonnie, the shield slowly buckling as the powerful attack slowly forced its way through the psychic energy.

" _Ready, Bonnie?"_ Ryan asked, as he and Lucario took up a new stance. In the truck, Bonnie shifted her stance, her ankle apparently not bothering her in the slightest.

"Bonnie?" Serena asked, unsure of what exactly was happening but not quite believing it either.

"Aura Sphere!" Bonnie and Ryan shouted simultaneously, the powerful energy of the Hyper Beam was redirected in a blue orb of aura power, hitting Salamence square in the face. As it stared down its pint-sized attacker in anger, Bonnie looked up with an equally determined face. Bonnie bellowed an almost Pokemon-esque roar at the Salamence, the beast realising it may not be able to beat such a foe and wisely retreated. With the threat passed, Ryan lost his link with Bonnie, he and Lucario dropping to the floor. Bonnie meanwhile keeled over in the truck from exhaustion.

"BONNIE!" Clemont cried out as he caught his sister. As he and Serena tried to find out what happened, he saw the light in Bonnie's eyes fade away before she passed out.

"Clemont, what the hell's going on back there?!" Ash yelled through the grate separating the truck cab from the back.

"Honestly, Ash; we have no idea," Serena replied furtively. "But we need to get to Alisode straight away!"

* * *

Judy was in shock over the events of the last few minutes.

"Just gimme a minute to catch my breath," Ryan panted, the exertion of the psychic link being unfamiliar.

"What just happened?" she queried, as she passed a wet flannel to the two psychics.

"The group the Pikachu belongs to just got attacked by a very angry Salamence," he explained. "One of my abilities is to psychically link to someone's mind, be able to see things they see, hear what they hear."

"When she asked for help, it opened up the psychic link I had with her previously. I channelled mine and Lucario's power through that link to defend her and her friends from the Pokémon."

He got up and sat down at the kitchen table. She handed the pair a glass of water as he continued. "I forgot just how much energy it uses up to do this though, poor girl must be unconscious after all that."

"Oh my god! Will she be alright?" Judy asked in a panic.

"I hope so, a day's rest and she should be right as rain." He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the flannel and checked on the food. "C'mon, lets get this food into the dining room for all the trainers. Training will need to wait." As he, Judy and Lucario carried the trays of piping hot breakfast into the dining room, he couldn't help but feel worry for Bonnie. He hoped to meet her soon, so he could apologise for putting her in harm's way by coming to Alisode.

* * *

 **9:32am – Alisode Pokémon Centre**

As Mike checked on the condition of his truck, the passengers disembarked; Clemont carrying Bonnie and Dedenne in his arms. "Thanks for your help, Mike!" Ash said as he dashed into the Pokémon Centre, a man on a mission.

Despite being early in the morning, the Pokémon Centre was devoid of life. Looking around he saw one solitary Wigglytuff brushing around the main desk. "Excuse me Wigglytuff, do you know if a Pikachu was brought in last night?" he asked.

"Wiggly?" the Balloon Fairy asked, before checking on the computer beside it. "Tuff! Tuff!" it nodded as it showed him the screen with Pikachu's data on it, along with the person who brought him in.

"Do you know where this guy is?" his voice trembling with anger and rage. Wigglytuff pointed to the battlefield behind the counter, where a large crowd of people was. Ash raced off towards them.

"Ash, wait!" Serena cried out, "Ash!"

Ash ran out into the garden, where the crowd was seemingly entranced by a trainer working out alongside his Pokémon. He was practicing a martial art alongside two bipedal Pokémon, a Lucario and a Bisharp; the speed at which his blows were landing and parrying were incredible, and Ash was momentarily in awe before remembering why he was here.

"Hey, you!" he yelled at the fighter, splitting the crowd in two as he approached. "What did you do to my Pikachu!" The momentary lapse in concentration elicited an accidental roundhouse from Lucario, knocking him to the floor. Ash approached, fist raised, but was knocked back by a flash of silver. In an instant, the dark Pokémon was standing above him, claw sharpened and raised in anticipation of Ash's next move to hurt his trainer.

"Ash, stop!" Serena yelled as she ran out to join him. The crowd backed away at the new person, several of the younger trainers started to cry at this turn of events.

"Bisharp! Stand down!" the trainer yelled, slowly getting to his feet with aid from Lucario.

*rawr rawr!* She barked, equally trying to convince him to leave the human alone.

Bisharp glanced back, and saw Lucario's glare as it readied an aura sphere in its palm. With a sigh of defeat it retracted its blade, revealing three hoofed fingers on its hand. Ash took the hand and the metallic knight helped him to his feet; the audience breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Seeing the matter resolved, Ryan collected his training bag. "Okay everyone, trainings over." When the groans rung out, particularly from his younger fans, he asked for some private time so he could sort out some business. As the trainer's dispersed, Clemont finally came out of the Pokémon Centre.

"So, Ash. What did I miss?"

* * *

Ryan quickly explained what happened the previous night to the three, how he was flying to another city and happened upon the theft. He told them that the explosion that occurred injured Pikachu quite badly, but hopefully the treatment should help him recover in no time. As they re-entered the building, he quickly caught sight of Bonnie and Nurse Joy off in a corner of the lobby.

"Please, Nurse Joy; it really hurts! Can't you make it stop?" Bonnie cried, as Joy carefully examined her leg, which had now swelled considerably.

"I don't know what you have been doing to make it this bad, but I'm not sure how else to treat it at this time." Nurse Joy wasn't used to dealing with human patients, but she wasn't the type of person to give in easily. "Wait there, and I'll make some calls to other doctors, and get a second opinion."

AS Joy walked off, Ryan and the others came over to check on her. "Hey Bonnie," Clemont said cheerfully in an attempt to distract her from her discomfort; "how are you feeling?"

" _sniff_ It hurts big brother!" Bonnie wasn't usually the type of child to cry from an injury, so this was really bad news for Clemont.

"Perhaps I can help out, considering I made your leg worse earlier;" Ryan offered his hand to Bonnie and introduced himself.

"You were the one who saved me?" Bonnie asked, her friends now utterly confused by this turn of events.

Ryan nodded, and pulled out a Poke Ball from his belt. "Audino, I need you." In a flash of blue light, Audino appeared, the Healer Pokémon ready to help out. "Use Heal Pulse on her leg, take as much time as you need." Audino acknowledged the request, and started emitting a pink pulsating light towards Bonnie's injured leg. As the move started to take effect, its power was already noticeable as the swelling began to subside.

"I didn't know Heal Pulse could be used on trainers as well as Pokémon…" Joy said in a stunned voice as she re-emerged with a stack of notes. Ryan just smiled as he explained.

"This particular Audino is one of the strongest healers in all of Unova. It isn't one of the best fighters, but I don't know where I'd be without her help."

"If Audino is as strong as you say, then why didn't you use her to heal Pikachu?" Ash questioned.

"Sadly Pikachu's injuries were too severe for even Audino's talents."

"You mentioned you were the one who made her leg worse;" Serena commented, "how so exactly?"

"When that Salamence attacked you, Bonnie cried out for help. One of my powers is a psychic link allowing me to see things others see. I tried to protect her by channelling my psychic powers through this link, but I could only maintain it for so long."

"… Thank you for saving me. Saving all of us." Bonnie gave him a quick hug, standing on her good leg; Ryan slowly reciprocated it after seeing Clemont smile at him.

"Its okay, Bonnie. It's okay."

* * *

While their Pokémon got a much needed rest, Ryan invited the four for lunch at a popular café in the town. Showing his ID to the guard standing outside, he led the four inside. The place was extremely trendy, with the staff uniform more akin to a fashion show.

"Wow, some of these outfits look just like Valerie's!" Serena gasped in awe. She was floored by the detail in the uniforms, each server's name hand embroidered into the chest.

"Well, Valerie did open this place a few years ago…" Ryan noted. "I got a lifetime pass here after saving her Pokémon from when it went up in flames a while back."

Bonne and Clemont were in awe at his stories, whereas Ash was a bit more distrusting. "You said you were on your way to somewhere else. What were you doing?" he asked.

After ordering their lunch with a passing server, he took out a picture from his jacket. "I am employed by a group that investigates less-than-legal practices across the globe. Team Rocket for example are always on our radar, but we can never quite get what we need to finally bring them down. I'm hoping whatever ' _this_ ' is, is that final nail in the coffin." The photo was of a destroyed laboratory bearing the Rocket sigil.

"It definitely looks like Team Rocket was up to something there," Ash noted. "What else do you know?"

"I found it under a file marked 'Project X'. 'Project X' was a test to supposedly create living Pokémon from DNA samples of other living Pokémon. Cloning, so to speak." As he spoke, he noted the shift in Ash and Pikachu's eyes. They knew exactly what he was talking about. "All my leads point to one man, who went missing years ago, but strangely appeared again a few months ago in Unova. My intel suggests he had been recruited by another faction due to his knowledge on cloning, and the resulting 'Project Y' was to be superior to 'Project X' in every way. Only, all the data on both Projects seems to have been purged from every database I can find."

Ash breathed a shallow sigh of relief. In truth, he was fully aware of what Ryan was talking about, and was not about to blow their secret to a guy he barely knew.

"I guess this contact was my last shot of finding answers to this mystery. I guess I'll just need to find another way of bringing down Team Rocket. Another time…"

"Speaking of time," Bonnie interrupted, "is it time to eat?" The whole table started laughing at her youthful ignorance, as their meals arrived.

* * *

As the evening fast approached, the five trainers returned to the Pokémon Centre to collect their tired but rested partners. Nurse Joy had finally been able to treat Pikachu's wounds, and he emerged from the ward bandaged but breathing. The happy electric mouse slowly ran into his trainer's open arms, as the pair cuddled in their joyous reunion. Ryan collected his own Pokémon and made for the door.

"Hey, you going already?" Serena asked.

"My contact is in Anistar City, if I can get there and get the intel he has, I may have a chance at bringing them down." Ryan was unsure about his chances; every lead he had chased down had led nowhere, what if this did too?

"Ryan?" Ash said as he came out of the Pokémon centre. "Thank you for saving Pikachu, it really means a lot."

"You are most welcome, Ash." The pair shook hands before Ryan summoned his Charizard and flew off into the dusk. As he gained altitude, he phoned his contact.

 _" **I don't have a lot of time left, you need to get here tomorrow."**_

 _"I know that, I got delayed. I'll be in Anistar by midnight. You had better have the intel I need."_

 _" **Hey, I worked on the damn project for three weeks, and everyone who has blabbed has ended up dead. I just want to make sure I get to see the light of day tomorrow. You know how Giovanni likes to operate."**_

 _"Yeah, I do. That's why I want him so badly. If I can put him away, the world will be a safer place."_

 _" **Maybe so, but a guy like Giovanni doesn't mess around. If you wanna take him down you gotta…"**_

 _"…"_

 _" **Hey, what's going on, who are you?"**_

 _"Clyde?"_

 _" **BANG"**_

 _"Clyde!"_

 _"…"_

 _"CLYDE!"_


End file.
